


there for you (as the world falls down)

by SafelyCapricious



Series: things you find in a graveyard [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Labyrinth Fusion, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 00:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20898461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SafelyCapricious/pseuds/SafelyCapricious
Summary: It’s common knowledge that the last time a wandering bard was allowed to stay at Winterfell he tried to kidnap two of the children — Sansa and Arya, stealing them away in the night with his tracks covered by a summer snow storm. It’s common knowledge that the man was caught before dawn and was not given the option of taking the black. It’s common knowledge that the girls got away from him and were found, huddled for warmth and clutching each other in the forest. It’s common knowledge that the girls both suffered a fever but pulled through.It’s all untrue, but it’s common knowledge.





	there for you (as the world falls down)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "As the World Falls Down" by David Bowie from the Labyrinth soundtrack for obvious reasons. <strike>Titles are still the worst</strike>
> 
> This is part of my attempt at fictober. Day four! Still haven't failed! Woooo! <strike>why am I do thing this why why why uuuugh</strike>
> 
> Um. I'm marking this as shippy because I view the Jareth/Sarah relationship as inherently that way? And this is obviously based on that so...
> 
> Anyways, I know this is a bit odd, but I hope ya'll enjoy!

It’s common knowledge that the last time a wandering bard was allowed to stay at Winterfell he tried to kidnap two of the children — Sansa and Arya, stealing them away in the night with his tracks covered by a summer snow storm. It’s common knowledge that the man was caught before dawn and was not given the option of taking the black. It’s common knowledge that the girls got away from him and were found, huddled for warmth and clutching each other in the forest. It’s common knowledge that the girls both suffered a fever but pulled through. 

It’s all untrue, but it’s common knowledge. 

***

Neither she nor Arya ever spoke about it, is the thing. It was one of the few things they had agreed upon, and they’d agreed upon it without ever discussing it. 

Or, at least, that’s what Sansa thinks happened. But as the years past and the event grows more distant, she starts to think she might’ve made it up. Given herself a pretty story to make the experience of being stolen away less frightening. 

Not that what she remembers wasn’t frightening but…it was magical, too. 

And now, as she huddles on her bed in a keep turned against her, she’s glad she never told anyone, so that this pain will be her own. She’s had enough of her pain being public, she thinks, as she shifts and her back pulls. 

Shae had treated the wounds on her back as best she could, but she’ll have more scars from this. And with the pain throbbing, Sansa decides to hurt herself more. 

So she shuts her eyes tightly, and wraps her arms around her knees and thinks the words over and over and over, until she feels brave enough to say them out-loud. 

“I wish,” she mutters, into the fraying cloth covering her knees, “I wish,” she fights back a sob and tries to keep her voice soft enough that if there is anyone listening at her door this night they can’t hear the words, “I wish the goblins would come and take me away, right now.” 

In her memory — or her imagination, mayhaps — there had been a feeling in the air like when lightning strikes too close and a rush of wind. 

There’s nothing, now, and she finds that she still has tears to shed. 

Father is dead. Robb is dead. Bran is dead. Rickon is dead. Mother is dead. Arya is probably dead too. 

And here she is hoping that a fairytale will save her and — she’s so stupid. She could almost laugh, but that comes out as a sob too, when she thinks that she actually thought for a moment that wishing Arya away and saving her and winning against a _Goblin King _was real and — Gods. She really is just a stupid little girl, isn’t she. 

There’s a touch to her shoulder, soft, and she tightens her grip on her legs. She hopes it’s Shae. Shae will give her that look, but she won’t gossip to the others about it and — it’s a gentle touch. It’s probably Shae.

There are gloves — she realizes, a moment later — and her grip tightens even more. Shae doesn’t wear gloves. 

Littlefinger does and — she can’t help but think her wish again, feverishly, even though she’s said it out loud now and she knows it’s not real and — 

“I heard you the first time, love,” says a voice from her dreams, amusement and something else rich in his voice and — 

Sansa looks up so quickly a shock of pain runs down her back but she’s used to that and — 

It’s _him_.

He’s real.

Oberyn, the Goblin King, is here. 

Her memory didn’t do him justice, and he’s more handsome then she remembered and also seems sharper but —

But most importantly he’s real and he’s here. 

She throws herself at him and for a moment she’s tangled in her skirts but he’s got her and — 

He was the villain, before, is the thing, but he was an _honorable_ villain. He let her and Arya go when she won the maze and he’d wrapped his cloak around them when they’d emerged into the real world into snow and cold and he’d _kept_ his word. 

And he reminds her of before. 

“This is most unusual,” he says, accent still unlike any other she’s ever heard, and he’d laughed at her when she’d asked before, where he was from, “I’ve never had someone successfully wish themselves away, you understand. And you’re a little old to be a goblin, regardless.” 

Suddenly terrified that he’s going to leave her — that he won’t take her — she tightens her grip on him even though it stretches her back and — ah, she might’ve reopened one of the wounds. But it won’t matter if he leaves her because — she can’t stay here. 

“Please,” she says, words caught in her throat, willing to beg him if she must — though the last time she let herself beg it hadn’t changed fate at all. “I can’t — I can’t stay here anymore. You can — you can lock me in the oubliette if you must but please _don’t_ leave me.”

“Oh sweet,” he pulls back, but cups her chin in his hand and wipes her tears with a bright orange handkerchief, “I don’t think you’d be very easy to forget.” The handkerchief vanishes, leaving behind sparkles in its wake, and he smiles down at her, teeth gleaming in the candle light and looking sharper than before. “Now, tell me who hurt you? And why isn’t your _delightful_ little sister here?” 

She sniffs again and shakes her head, “Please,” she says, “can we just…go?” 

He watches her for a moment, with dark eyes and white teeth, and she wonders what he sees and what he thinks of what’s become of her. But mostly she wonders if he’s really real or if maybe she’s feverish from her wounds and —

Best not to dwell on that. “I think my sister is dead,” she says, dropping her gaze and twisting her fingers together. It’s not a thing she likes to say but — “I know my brother’s are. And my parents. It’s just me, now. And I’d rather be a goblin or even live in the bog of eternal stench rather than stay one more moment here and — please?” 

He laughs, soft, and goosebumps raise on her arms and her heart rate picks up and she feels shivery all over. “I think we can find a place for you at the castle, little wolf, if that’s not more objectionable than the bog?” 

“Oh, no, anywhere is fine,” she assures, quickly, accepting his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. She steps off the bed but instead of stepping onto the cold stone of her room she’s stepping into sun warmed sand and — she’s back at the castle at the center of the maze. It’s alike and unlike her memory but it’s not the Red Keep, and that’s all she cares about. 

“Come now love, let’s find something more suitable for you to wear for when you greet your new subjects, yes?” He leans down and brushes a kiss across her cheek and she realizes, abruptly, that for the first time in ages she doesn’t hurt. And then his words sink in and she finds herself blinking up at his smile in confusion. 

“My subjects?” she asks, after a moment, and his smile sharpens and his eyes brighten. 

“You remember, don’t you, Sansa? What I offered you before?” 

She thinks he’s laughing at her, and she tries to remember the dreams in bubbles he’d tried to give her or — the words appear in her mind like they’d always been there, _fear me, love me, do as I ask and I shall be your slave_, and his grin grows larger yet as she stares. 

“I don’t think I can be frightened of you, my lord, not any longer.” She shrugs. She already loves him for saving her, but fear him? Impossible. 

He throws his head back and laughs and she takes another breath of air, free of her tormentors. 

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I'm still working on my WIP Sanberyn, it's just that this has taken my life over for the moment. (And by this I mean fictober...) But you can always find me [on tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/capriciouswrites)if you wanna chat! It'll be fun, I promise.
> 
> This is still probably not edited enough, because I'm gonna try to get some more written so I have a cushion for future dates. Wish me luck. 
> 
> I kinda wanna continue this but, for now, here it is. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading and thank you extra if you take the time to let me know what you think! <3


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